It seems China is ready to cooperate with India in the central Asian region through the SCO framework, the reasons for which are manifold, says Sana Hashmi.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong urged that the government should launch a crackdown against all anti-China terrorist groups after two deadly attacks took place in Pakistan within only six months, The Express Tribune reported.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is still a developing entity and it is essentially due to Russian and Chinese efforts. The moot question is can India benefit by attending it?
In the two-day summit, the SCO will kick off the process of India's accession to the grouping as a full-fledged member along with Pakistan.
Jailed former premier Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has distanced itself from a party leader's invitation to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to join its protest, asserting that no foreign country has a role in its political struggle.
In his opening remarks at the virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Modi also said that some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policy and the grouping must not hesitate to criticise them.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu on the sidelines of the SCO defence ministerial conclave in Delhi, people familiar with the matter said.
China does not have to give up what it took in 2020, it will never give up its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and other areas, and it has all the time now to plan its next surprise, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
India and China on Thursday vowed to redouble efforts to resolve the remaining issues in eastern Ladakh at the earliest and 'stabilise and rebuild' ties even as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during a meeting that the Line of Actual Control (LAC) must be respected.
India requested Pakistan to let Modi's aircraft fly over its airspace when he travels to Bishkek. Pakistan accorded an "in principle" approval to India's request.
Though the two-day SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting began at the Taj Exotica Resort in Benaulim on Thursday evening with a reception hosted by Jaishankar, the main deliberations took place on Friday.
'Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism.'
"What we have heard today only confirms what we have been saying consistently all along -- Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats," the MEA spokesperson said in the statement.
Pakistan's top diplomat Sartaj Aziz said that he did not reject the idea when asked about the chances of a meeting between the two prime ministers
"India has consistently articulated its desire to play a more constructive and meaningful role as an observer at the SCO," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said, addressing the 10th summit of the forum in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.
Jaishankar said that both sides also exchanged views on the next steps in the India-China bilateral ties.
"We should not have a repeat of what happened in Mumbai. That there was a terror attack and there was no response," Jaishankar told reporters in Mumbai.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday said his visit to Goa was a 'success' as he advocated his country's case on the soil of India.
It would be the highest level visit to India by any Pakistani leader in recent years and a possible opportunity to break the ice between the two nations.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold separate bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Russia's Sergey Lavrov at a beach resort in Goa on Thursday on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) amid rapidly evolving regional security situation.
Dar also said Pakistan views Russia as an important player in the West, South and Central Asia, and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia remains an important priority for Pakistan's foreign policy.
'The future of BRICS is under stress as Chinese attempts to expand the platform are being resisted by India and Brazil.' 'Beijing is focused on a quick expansion with the aim of giving the platform a distinctly anti-Western orientation, which New Delhi and Brasilia seem to have no interest in,' notes Harsh V Pant.
In an interaction with a group of Indian journalists, the three-time prime minister and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N described Jaishankar's visit as a "good opening" and said both sides should now engage and move forward.
In their first structured bilateral talks in nearly five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday agreed that India and China can have a 'peaceful and stable' relationship by displaying maturity and mutual respect and endorsed the pact on the resolution of the dragging eastern Ladakh border row.
Singh and Shoigu held extensive talks, covering the regional security situation and key aspects of bilateral defence relations, including industrial partnership, at a meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in New Delhi.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of T20 World Cup 2024 after Game 48.
After visiting two Central Asian countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ufa on Wednesday on a three-day trip during which he will attend the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summits.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has expressed readiness to join hands with India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to "properly handle" issues related to the situation on the ground in the border areas, amid the protracted border row in eastern Ladakh.
India and China on Wednesday held 'constructive' and 'forward-looking' diplomatic talks to resolve the over four-year border standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh but there was clear no indication of any breakthrough.
Pakistan has responded to a letter by India asking to start negotiations for the review of the Indus Water Treaty, the foreign office said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday left for the Uzbek city of Samarkand to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit that will also see the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iran's Ebrahim Raisi among other top world leaders.
India seeks to play a supportive role for a peaceful and stable region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday as he embarked on a high-profile visit to Russia to hold summit talks with President Vladimir Putin amid the conflict in Ukraine.
The Jaishankar-Wang talks came amid the dragging border row in eastern Ladakh that entered its fifth year in May.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday held talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu and is learnt to have discussed the lingering border row in eastern Ladakh.
In his address at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Benaulim, Goa, Jaishankar said the channel of finances for terror activities must be blocked without any distinction even as Bhutto Zardari raised the issue of "violation of international law" which was seen as an apparent reference to Kashmir.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang reiterated that the situation at the India-China border is generally stable and both sides should consolidate the present achievements and strictly abide by the relevant agreements while pushing for further cooling and easing of the conditions for sustainable peace and tranquillity at the frontier.
India would not be seen to be anything but rude with the Pakistanis. In the big picture, who is the bigger adversary right now? Who is the bigger pain in the neck? And who is it that is keeping more than 3,000 km of our borders active, throwing our military posture and deployments into imbalance? asks Shekhar Gupta.
'With continued focus on votes, upcoming by-polls and purchasing politicians, the political hierarchy has little time for national defence.' 'They would do well to heed a veteran scholar, who says, "There will be war with China in the next few years. The next full scale war will have the involvement of Pakistan and terror elements, insurgents and intelligence assets operating inside India",' warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of T20 World Cup 2024 after Game 54.
